Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The modern day child knows – Mcdonalds, Subways, Café Coffeeday, Pizza
huts and the like – items like ‘French
fries’ – the elongated pieces of potatoes deep-fried, long, thinly cut slices
served hot and crisp to eat- have redefined the way children relish their food
.. for common man, especially those of working class, the preference is much
different – it could be – Samosa, from street corners to big hotels and
marriage parties,completewith savoury filling including spiced potato,
onion, lentil and something….. more ~ typically in triangular shape. ~
and there is, ‘Bajjis’ made of besan
(kadalai maavu in tamil) encasing onion, tomato, cauliflower, potato, mirchi
and many other vegetables ~ the recipe of success is simple – deep fried
in oil.

The famed Thiruvalluvar in his Arathupal speaks
of the possession of decorum thus :

Propriety of conduct leads to
eminence. Decorum gives special
excellence ~ and for men of virtue, it should be preserved more carefully than
life itself.

-.. here is something connecting ‘decorum of high order with a samosa seller’…

Actor Varun Pruthi has conducted social experiments
to raise awareness of the bystander effect in Indian society. To put simply, to see how common public react
to any incident ….. he has been posting them on You Tube and other Social
media. He is not without detractors, who
say that he is trying to become popular by exploiting poor, whom he is showing
to protect ! – but one cannot deny the fact that some of them are outrageously
emotional.

In one such video, a visually-impaired samosa street seller is given generous gift of money from a
stranger has gone viral. Posted on YouTube by Indian actor Varun Pruthia whose
'Bringing Humanity Back' videos have made him an internet sensation, the clip
shows him approaching a man sitting on the ground selling samosas. Priced at
just 10 rupees for two samosas, the man is left astonished when Delhi-based Mr
Pruthia gives him 1000 rupees, saying: 'God sent this for you' before walking
off without waiting for his change.

MailOnine comments
that Rs.1000 is around £10, and with
more than 40% of Indians earning just 78 pence a day, a one thousand rupee note
is the equivalent of two weeks' wages. However, rather
than accepting the money, the samosa seller chases after him and insists on
giving him his money back.

'Sir,
I don't need 1000 rupees,' he says, 'what I make with my efforts is enough for
me. 'Give this to someone more needy than me,' insists the
street seller to Mr Pruthia who smiles at him in astonishment. After pausing a moment Mr Pruthia says: 'Ok,
please hold this,' and hands the seller the samosas whilst he goes to get
smaller currency. 'You're an inspiration,' he adds as he looks in his wallet. Mr
Pruthia gives the street vendor Rs100 and waits patiently as the man counts out
his Rs90 in change.

'A
big salute to you sir for your honesty,' says the actor, still clearly in
shock, '...never give up in life.' Mr Pruthia then asks the man for a hug and as
they embrace the food seller says: 'I just want money for my efforts, here is
your change.' Both
men smile at each other, salute and part ways. The
video then goes black and a message comes on the screen: 'There are people who
have money, and people who are rich. 'He [the samosa seller] teaches us that
money doesn't make you rich, attitude does. 'Share this if he makes you proud
to be human.'

The street seller
insists that he doesn't need the money and that it should be given to someone
more in need. The video is just one of
many similar clips online of Mr Pruthia carrying out acts of kindness on the
streets of India to promote his #BringingHumanityBack campaign. The actor, who
for the last ten months has been posting kindness videos on his YouTube and
Facebook pages, has become an inspiration for many across the globe, and has
even started his own 'nomination' trend on social media. Mr Pruthia is
encouraging people to help 'hardworking, needy people with money in the next 48
hours.

The
Samosa Seller represents the ‘honest, happy, sincere persons’ – still living in
the Society – sure, there are some around – and it is the duty of the Society
that such men are regarded, respected and treated well.Salute the Samosa
seller’s attitude, honesty and truthfulness.
Long live and may his tribe increase !